Brand-new F1 driver just did something even Max Verstappen never managed during his rookie season

F1’s 2025 rookie class had their first Q3 representation of 2025 at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday. Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar qualified seventh, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli eighth.

Last time out in Melbourne, Antonelli went out in Q1, while Haas’ Oliver Bearman didn’t even set a lap time after a gearbox issue. Hadjar, Jack Doohan and Gabriel Bortoleto all fell in Q2.

But this time Hadjar was one of the stars of the day, while Antonelli also made progress – even if he’ll be disappointed to be six places behind George Russell. Bearman, Doohan and Bortoleto will line-up next to one another in 17th, 18th and 19th.

Antonelli is the outlier among the quintet in that he’s driving for a frontrunning team immediately. The rest are representing midfield outfits.

While Antonelli will try to replicate a young Lewis Hamilton, the rest should look to the 2015 version of Max Verstappen. Driving for Toro Rosso, Verstappen showed he was a future ‘megastar’ and picked up 49 points in 19 races.

Isack Hadjar’s Q1 performance at Chinese Grand Prix eclipses Max Verstappen

Hadjar was in tears after crashing on the formation lap before his debut in Melbourne. But his response at the Chinese Grand Prix has been outstanding.

An error in SQ2 meant he could only qualify 15th for the Sprint, though he helped teammate Racing Bulls Yuki Tsunoda with a slipstream. After finishing 13th, he unleashed the car’s full potential in Grand Prix qualifying.

The magnificent Hadjar was seventh-fastest, only around four-tenths off Oscar Piastri’s pole position time. He outpaced Tsunoda for the first time after the Japanese driver ran wide.

But one moment in Q1 was arguably more memorable than his Q3 lap. Hadjar remarkably went fastest at the end of the session, and while Lando Norris outpaced him, his 1:31.162 was still good enough for second.

It was telling that Sky Sports commentator David Croft needed a moment to locate Hadjar in the timing tower. Even Verstappen never managed to rank this high in a segment of qualifying in 2015.

Lewis Hamilton may become Isack Hadjar’s mentor based on Chinese Grand Prix moment

It’s worth noting that Verstappen broke into F1 at the height of Mercedes’ dominance, while Hadjar has joined at the end of a ruleset. The cars are closer than they’ve been at any point in the sport’s recent history.

Still, going second in a meaningful session is a mighty achievement. And it’s perhaps the first real glimpse of Hadjar’s potential at the highest level.

F1 pundit David Coulthard says Hadjar is ‘on the edge’ emotionally. He’ll need to make sure he doesn’t get overly excited after Saturday’s result.

But he may be able to lean on the guidance of the sport’s most successful driver. Speaking in the Shanghai press conference on Thursday, Hadjar said Lewis Hamilton sent him a text after his tearful Melbourne retirement and hailed him as a ‘classy’ guy.